Racers End Weekend 1-2 at Belmont Tournament

Saturday, September 6

Nashville, Tenn.

4 p.m.

Murray State

IPFW

9/6/2008 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Match vs. IPFW

The Murray State volleyball team fell to IPFW, 0-3 (18-25, 22-25, 21-25) and ended the Belmont Tournament 1-2 after falling to Furman earlier in the day.

Senior Ashley Nenninger led a balanced attack with seven kills for the Racers (2-2, 0-0 OVC), while freshman Logan Su and sophomore Sara Hayden each added six. Senior Alison Mugler was the leading defensive player with 19 digs. Freshman Kayleah Sauer was the only other MSU player with double-digits in the digs column, with 11.

“We didn't play to our full potential today,” said head coach David Schwepker. “Hopefully we can get some good practices in this week to prepare for a tough tournament at Alabama next weekend.”

The Mastodons (1-5, 0-0 The Summit League) started out strong going up 4-1 but the Racers kept the score close until IPFW went on a 6-1 run to push the advantage to 12-7. MSU rallied back to tie the score at 12 with a 5-0 run of its own. Senior Heather Norris sparked the run with three-straight service aces. The Mastodons then used a late run to retake the lead 20-14 and didn't let the Racers get much closer the rest of the set.

Set two again saw IPFW jump out to an early 9-2 lead. Senior Alison Mugler then landed a service ace to spark a MSU 8-2 run to get back within one point (10-11). The Racers then tied the set at 14 with two-straight kills from Nenninger and one from sophomore Becca Lamb.

The teams then battled until MSU earned its first lead of the match (19-18) with several blocks from freshman Jade Guo and sophomores Sara Hayden and Nenninger. IPFW then tied the match again at 20 and finished the set with a 7-2 run to earn the victory.

Set three started in the favor of the Racers as they kept the match close at the start and lead by one or two points. With the score tied at nine MSU started a 6-1 run to take a 15-11 advantage on the scoreboard. IPFW continued to pressure the Racers and tied the set at 17. The score remained tight until the Mastodons started a 5-1 run to earn the match victory.

The key difference in the match was hitting percentage. MSU combined for a .108 (32k-19e-120ta) attack percentage, while IPFW had 42 kills and 13 errors on 119 total attempts for a .244 hitting percentage.

Sauer mad several key defensive plays for the Racers and was named to the seven-member all-tournament team for her efforts. The defensive specialist recorded 37 digs during the tournament, while adding five assists and two service aces.

Match vs. Furman

The Murray State volleyball team's winning streak was snapped at three when Furman defeated the Racers 3-0 (17-25, 15-25, 30-32) in the second match of the Belmont Tournament.

MSU was led by sophomore Sara Hayden, who tallied three total blocks, a .222 (5k-1e-18ta) hitting percentage, three digs, and one service ace.

Sophomore Ashley Nenninger led the team in kills for the second-straight match, with 10. Senior Alison Mugler and Logan Su each added eight kills for MSU, while Mugler tallied a team-high 16 kills.

Set one was a close battle with the Paladins (3-3, 0-0 Southern Conference) holding a one or two-point advantage before they started a 3-0 run to take a 14-11 advantage. The Racers pulled within one (14-15), but Furman continued the pressure and built up a seven-point lead (21-14). The teams then traded the next seven points but the Paladins took the first set 25-17.

Both teams struggled early in set two with hitting and service errors. Furman took the first lead of the set, but couldn't get more than three points ahead. The Paladins then took control of the set with a 5-0 run to go up 16-9. Furman kept control of the set the rest of the way, leading by as many as ten.

Set three was a back and fourth battle with both teams using four-point runs to take a lead and then tie the set. MSU was within one point (14-15) when the Paladins started a 6-0 run to take a 21-14 advantage. But the Racers didn't give up and battled back with a 7-0 run to tie the set at 21. The teams traded the next three serves before Furman took a 24-22 lead. MSU then forced extra points with a 2-0 run of its own to tie the set at 24. The score toggled back and forth until the Paladins used kills from Alexis Shaffer and Katherine Hall to take the 32-30 win.

Furman ended the match with a .237 (41k-13e-118ta) hitting percentage to the Racers .092 (38k-26e-131ta). Blocking was also key for the Paladins, as they netted 11 total team blocks, while MSU garnered only four.

The Racers continue their road stand with a three-match tournament at Alabama, Sep. 12-13. MSU will first face South Florida, Sep. 12 at 11 a.m. and then battle former conference foe Samford at 4:30 p.m. The final match of the tournament will be against host Alabama, Sep. 13 at 1 p.m.

Notes: Norris is now 144 digs away from the No. 1 position on MSU's all-time dig list...Mugler moved 14 kills closer to the 1,000 Kill Club and now needs just 51 to become the eighth member of the club...she is also just 22 digs away from taking over the No. 6 spot on the all-time dig list.